Church growth

These lines from William J. Abraham's essay "A Theology of Evangelism: The Heart of the Matter" stuck out to me as I just read them:

"For the most part, evangelicals have construed evangelism as essentially the proclamation of the gospel to unbelievers. In fact, church growth and proclamation constitute the two major visions of evangelism currently available to us. Converting people to God, making disciples, and saving souls make up the relevant minority reports. In what follows, I shall argue that we need to construe evangelism as a polymorphous ministry aimed at initiating people into the kingdom of God."

This really strung a chord with me because for so long I've been taught that the a successful church is one that is growing. People are showing up. In sports, if you team is winning then everything is good. In church, if people are showing up then everything is good. It has been so centered on numbers that in fact it has become very business like. While in a sense I do agree that people should be attracted to the your church and it should be growing, it seems this part of church work has been exploded to the main, if not only, metric of success. In the same way, it seem Abraham's is hitting on a similar mishap in evangelism. It is about people saying yes to salvation. It's about the shear numbers of conversion. That seems so empty when its not paired with a deeper vision of discipleship and "initiation into the kingdom of God".

As I begin to think more and more upon evangelization, the invitation to the kingdom of God continues to bring more substance to me than an invitation to eternal life. Is faith just a great eternal life policy? Of course not! It is so much more than that. In fact a faith that is based purely on a the selfish motive that it benefits our eternal salvation seems wrong. Isn't all of this about joining into a new kingdom of righteousness and justice? Isn't this about humbly submitting to the eternal God? Yes eternal salvation is part of the kingdom (and a big part I'm sure) but joining into the Kingdom of God is the bigger picture here.

So what does this say about the current church culture that only seeks to grow in numbers? My experience has been a cheap version of faith that offers this "me-first" mentality to accept Jesus because it gets you the reward of eternal bliss. So some churches are growing (and very quickly) because this cheap version of faith is easy. But I wonder how many understand what it means to enter into the kingdom of God now. To live not "of the world" but to live knowing that God's kingdom is present now. I wonder if this message isn't deeper. I wonder if this message doesn't have a more life transforming effect. I wonder if this message, though harder to sell than a "me-first" conversion, would in the end create a strong church.

So are numbers what its all about in evangelism? No (and yes, of course). No because that view promotes a cheap view of evangelism that waters down the true Good News of God Kingdom. And yes because our mission is to spread this to as many as possible of course. So what should be the gauge of success? Perhaps that is harder to calculate than just numbers. How do you calculate continued justice? How do you calculate mercy and grace becoming more present in the community? How do you calculate generosity and kindness over flowing to the poor, needy, enemy, and powerless?

I hope as I go along in the journey and into Venezuela that God will continue to show me what success in evangelism means. He will show me what successful evangelism looks like in our churches. He will open me to see the bigger picture and broader understanding of an invitation into the kingdom of God.

Prayer:

Father, Creator, Good New bearer help me better understand the mission of your Church. Help me better understand what you mean by inviting others into your Kingdom. Help me better understand what is means to being your evangel. May I be humble enough to lower my pride, my biasness, and my limited vision so that you will illuminate my heart and soul. And God as I do begin to see what your mission means give me the courage to do it and the wisdom to know how to do it. May I be a faithful servant that doesn't just study what to do, but actually lives out what to do. Lord, be with Winston's family as they mourn the loss of his father. Bring them peace and love. May that have the time to mourn and celebrate his life in the right time. Thank for the influence Winston's father had on him because I now benefit from knowing Winston myself. I give praise and thanks. Go before our group that we may come to enter in your mission when we arrive in Aruba and Venezuela. Thank you God for this opportunity. In Jesus name, Amen.